Lost in Limbo
by voice of morgoth
Summary: A prequel to Separation Anxiety. The Pines twins relationship has been discovered, and Dipper and Mabel have been separated. Dipper has to find a way back to Mabel. Pinecest story


"Introducing… the Monkey-Coon!"

The group of tourists let out several "oohs" in awe of the strange amalgamation. Others know it is fake yet still play along to entertain their kids. Several snicker at the unintentionally racist name. Stan was showing off his latest attraction, a supposedly unseen hybrid from deep in the jungles of Africa; a cross between a raccoon and a monkey glued together from pieces stolen from a taxidermist's collection and road kill. Stan begins charging the tourists to have their picture taken with the strange creature when Soos walks in and hands Stan the phone.

"It's for you." Soos says.

"Obviously." Stan replies. Stan takes the phone away as Soos takes over the role of the con artist.

"So, who is this?" Stan asks. Mr. Pines responds from the other end.

"Oh, so what's bringing you up to Gravity Falls?" Stan asks.

"I'm bringing Dipper up."

"Oh, the twins are coming back again?" Stan asks, trying not to sound too hopeful for the return of the twins.

"No, just Dipper. I'll… I'll explain when we get there. We're a couple hours away." Mr. Pines says. The man sounds tired. Tired and angry. Stan wonders what's happened. Then he turns and realizes that Soos is trying to offer a discount for the kids.

"_Not on my watch._" Stan thinks as he walks over. The older man and his assistance spend the day scamming gullible tourists. Stan goes outside after a couple of hours and waits for his nephew to arrive. What's strange is that only Dipper is coming. The twins were inseparable; even for the month they came the year before, the twins always stuck together.

"_Maybe they're finally growing up._" Stan thinks. He watches as the tourists come and go as Soos takes command of the situation.

"_He'll be running this dump in no time._" Stan thinks, proud of his surrogate son. Stan sees the Pines' family car driving up to the Mystery Shack. Stan stands up and walks over to greet his family. And as he sees them, he becomes confused. The twins' father is angry and irritated. Mr. Pines looks over at his son, and Stan sees disgust on the man's face. Dipper, however, is blank. He shows no signs of happiness, or anger, or sadness. The twins' father steps out of the car as Dipper waits within. Dipper eyes the keys in the ignition for a second. It looks like Dipper is contemplating ditching his father there, but Dipper quickly looks away, realizing that hijacking the car would only get him in more trouble.

"So, uh, hey. What brings you up here?" Stan asks.

"We, uh… we need to have a talk." Mr. Pines says.

"What is it?"

"We should probably sit down."

Mr. Pines and Stan walk away from the group of tourists moving in and out of the shack and sit down on a bench.

"So, what is this about?" Stan asks.

"I… fuck."

"What is it?" Stan asks worriedly.

"It's… Dipper was… Dipper hurt her. He took advantage of her."

"Who, Mabel?"

"Yeah… they were… they were having sex."

"What?!" Stan says with a shocked voice.

"He… I don't know what happened. I wasn't the one that found them. But Dipper can't be near Mabel."

"I'll… I'll keep him over here." Stan says. Stan and Mr. Pines walk back to the car. Dipper looks at them with a blank face as he steps out of the car. Dipper silently walks to the back of the vehicle and fetches his suitcase from the trunk. Several pairs of clothes and a toothbrush were all that Dipper was able to bring. The tired teen wordlessly walks with his father and great uncle into the shack. Dipper walks up the stairs to get settled in the attic while Stan and Mr. Pines go into the kitchen. Dipper finds the old attic has been turned into storage. But the twins' old beds still lie in the corners. Several of the posters Mabel stapled to the wall remain untouched. Dipper begins shoving the junk out of the way before he drops off his suitcase. Dipper looks towards the center of the wall, where the triangular window with an eye allows the evening sun to seep into the old room. The eye of providence seems to be staring at Dipper.

"Hi Bill." Dipper says to the window. The teen scratches his chin before walking downstairs. Dipper makes his way to the kitchen. His father has already left. All that remains is Stan. The great uncle glares at Dipper, fully believing that the teen was responsible for hurting Mabel. Dipper looks at him before turning to the refrigerator. Dipper takes out a bottle of water before heading back up the stairs. Soos walks in during a lull in customers.

"So, why's only Dipper staying here?" Soos asks.

"It's a personal thing, so just drop it."

"Okay, Mr. Pines. I'll be leaving soon. You need anything?"

"Get some alcohol. And none of the light crap. I'll be needing the heavy shit for a while."

"Alright. Just don't drink too much at once. It can't be good for you." Soos says. Stan sighs as he leans back in his chair.

"_Just what the hell happened?_"

The following days move by as if nothing had changed. Soos and Stan scam the summer tourists while Dipper keeps to himself, unless he's getting something to eat or using the bathroom. The teen barely glances at the world as he passes through like a ghost. Four days in, that changes. Stan knows Dipper won't try and stay for long. Stan stays up late to keep an eye on Dipper. During the night, Stan hears footsteps moving down the stairs. Dipper walks into the living room and pauses as he spots Stan.

"What are you doing?" Stan asks.

"Getting some water." Dipper responds.

"There's a sink upstairs. You could have gotten some from there. What the hell are you doing?"

Dipper walks over and sits on a chair opposite Stan. Stan glares into Dipper's eyes, judging him. He knew Dipper wasn't a usual kid. The twins, even last year, always stayed in the same room. And Dipper never did make any friends in Gravity Falls besides Wendy and Soos, whereas Mabel got along with most people. Soos, Wendy, Candy, Grenda, and Pacifica were Mabel's closest friends. Dipper only ever truly opened up to Mabel.

But what had happened was different. Dipper took full advantage of Mabel's emotional nature as far as Stan knew.

"If you have something to say, then say it. Otherwise I'm going to bed." Dipper says. Stan just glares at him. Dipper returns up the stairs and back to the attic.

The next day, Dipper doesn't speak with Stan again. Dipper occasionally chats with Soos, but the conversations are short and only concern the shack. Dipper moves about the Mystery Shack, staring at the random trinkets and items that Stan has taken to use as his exhibits of the supernatural. Dipper smirks at the Monkey-Coon as he walks over to the counter for things to buy. Dipper looks through the random items, doing his best to alleviate his boredom when Mabel's friends come into the store.

"Pine Tree? Is that you?" Pacifica asks.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here?" Dipper asks.

"I was back in town and wanted to check out the old place. Where's Mabel?"

"She didn't come this year."

"That stinks. I wanted to catch up." Pacifica says. She looks Dipper over with a lustful gaze.

"So Pines, since you're here, maybe you want to go out for a night on the town?" Pacifica asks.

"Sorry. Not interested." Dipper replies. Candy and Grenda walk over and meet him.

"So, how is everything in Piedmont?" Candy asks.

"The usual. Dull, boring, lifeless. If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom." Dipper says. He leaves Mabel's summer friends behind as he walks back up the stairs. Stan had watched the conversation unfold. Stan had wondered if it was loneliness that drove Dipper to do what he did. Dipper isn't interested in any of them. He seems bored by the prospects of anyone else. The next couple of nights pass before Dipper makes another escape attempt. Dipper walks down the stairs without his shoes on, trying not to wake Stan. But Stan is in the kitchen, drinking a shot of whiskey.

"Come in. Take a seat." Stan says. Dipper walks in and sits down. Stan passes him a shot of whiskey, but Dipper doesn't accept it.

"I've been trying to figure out why it would have happened. The only girl you ever really seemed to be interested in was Wendy, but that was years ago. I noticed the last couple of times you didn't care about anyone else. I wondered if you had someone back home, but your parents told me you didn't. So here's what I think. I think you're an idiot. And I think you honestly believe that you didn't hurt Mabel, but you did. Shit like this… it ain't right."

"Have you heard from Mabel?" Dipper asks. His voice is low and almost inaudible. Dipper looks up, glaring into Stan's soul. Stan shifts in place slightly.

"No I haven't." Stan admits.

"I thought so." Dipper responds. Dipper stands up from the table and walks back to the attic, leaving his great uncle to drink his woes away.

The next week passes by. Dipper occasionally tries to break out again, but Stan is there around every corner, staying one step ahead of his great nephew. Dipper's personality begins changing. He no longer manages a conversation with Soos, and he spends most of his time up in the attic.

One day, Stan walks up the stairs to make sure Dipper isn't harming himself, but what he finds might actually be worse. Dipper isn't doing anything. The teen seems to be in a trance, staring blankly into space. His mouth moves lightly as he speaks from deep within his thoughts. Then Dipper giggles lightly at an imagined joke before stretching and moving out of the bed. It was as if Dipper had shut down and left his body temporarily. Stan walks back down the stairs as Dipper heads into the bathroom. Stan can feel his great nephew's eye upon him. Dipper is losing it.

Several days later, Mabel's friends return to try and bring Dipper out of his darkened thoughts. They organize a big, useless party to try and help Dipper out of his slump. But Dipper barely pays attention to them. It's more than not wanting to expose the twins' secret. Dipper doesn't even care about them. He looks over Pacifica once, but it's simply his hormonal mind playing tricks on him. Dipper buries his thoughts before they have a chance to turn into anything else. The friends leave while giving a worried wave to Dipper, knowing that something has changed with him.

The next night, Stan stays up late again. He's used to spending nights with little to no sleep, so Dipper's early breakout attempts couldn't wear down the hardened con. But as he sits in the chair, drinking a shot of scotch, he hears banging. A loud noise echoes down from the attic. Stan hurries up the stairs to see what's going on. A loud crash is heard from Dipper's room. Stan opens the door and looks around. Dipper is slumped on the floor with his back against the wall. He lies below the window, and the glass is broken. Dipper's knuckles bleed from the shards of broken glass in them.

"What the hell did you do?" Stan asks.

"You should learn to fix the damn window." a cold, harsh voice says. Stan realizes it came from Dipper. An alien, hoarse voice filled with anger.

Dipper stands up with clenched fists, and Stan can see the face of his great nephew in the dark. But it's different. Dipper's eyes are filled with hate. A type of hate that Stan was used to seeing from people ready to try and kill him. Gangsters, drug dealers, corrupt police, and people Stan conned out of their money. And now Dipper was the one with that face. Stan prepares for the worst as Dipper moves towards him, but Dipper pauses in his steps. Dipper's fists unclench and the teen slouches over. Dipper lets out a deep, anguished breath as he returns to hide behind the veil of indifference. Stan sees it clearly for the first time. What Dipper has been hiding since he returned to Gravity Falls; the hatred and the pain. Stan simply retreats down the stairs as Dipper goes to the bathroom to clean his wounds.

The following morning, Stan is nervous. Nervous enough that Soos notices.

"Yo, Mr. Pines. Are you feeling alright?" Soos asks.

"Yeah. It's just, something." Stan says as he looks over the drink.

"Well, I'm here for you if you need to talk."

"I'm fine. Go scam some more… what's the word?"

"Customers?"

"No, suckers. Yeah, go scam those suckers. I'll just be here… thinking."

Soos walks away, leaving Stan to ponder the situation. Dipper comes in and grabs a can of chili from the cabinet. He sits down at the table next to his great uncle as he eats the cold canned beans in silence. Stan shifts in his seat. He knows what Dipper is feeling, even in this exact moment.

"Have you talked with Mabel, yet?" Dipper asks.

"No, I haven't."

"Alright." Dipper responds. Dipper chucks the empty can towards the garbage can and misses. He doesn't bother picking it up as he walks back towards the attic. The following week, Stan keeps his eye on Dipper, but he glances at the phone. He doesn't know how to react. He was never good at honest social interactions, so calling someone on the phone almost seems wrong. And he doesn't know what he would say, or how to say it. A simple phone call doesn't seem like it would be enough. Stan slouches into the kitchen chair and grumbles to himself. Candy and Grenda return to the Mystery Shack and try to help Dipper.

"So Dipper, you wanna hang out?" Grenda asks.

"No, not interested." Dipper says as he reads a magazine.

"Come on. We'll go see a movie, and we'll go to a restaurant." Candy says. She tries to get Dipper to liven up with her cheerfulness, but it only seems to drive Dipper further into the dark. He begins to leave, apparently ignoring the two. But Dipper pauses mid-step; he turns around and walks back to Mabel's summer friends.

"Sure, I'll go to a movie with you." Dipper says. Stan stands up and interrupts them.

"Actually, Dipper has to help me around the shack. He can hang out with you another time."

Dipper turns and looks at him and realizes that Stan sees right through Dipper's plans. Dipper had wanted to ditch Candy and Grenda while going to take a ride back to Piedmont. Dipper clenches his hands as he walks back to the attic, leaving Candy and Grenda below. Stan and Dipper keep up their little game for the month. Dipper would try and find a way to break out, and Stan would counter him. But one day in the middle of August, it changes. Stan waits in his bed for the sound of footsteps creeping. On cue, Dipper's steps echo through the creaky, wooden house.

But Dipper doesn't make his way to the front door. Instead, he passes into the kitchen. Stan hears crying. Dipper leans against the stove while hugging himself. Stan remembers what day it is; the twins' birthday. Dipper holds the phone in his hand. He's desperate; he needs to hear Mabel again. Dipper dials the number to Mabel's cell phone, but receives no answer. He realizes that his parents had taken both their cell phones away. Dipper instead does something reckless. He calls the number to his house. The phone rings for several seconds before it picks up on the other end.

"Dipper?" Mabel asks worriedly.

"Hey." Dipper responds sadly.

"Oh my God, why didn't you call before?" Mabel asks with a worried whisper.

"Because Stan was watching. But I don't care anymore. He's probably still watching."

"What?"

"Yeah. I just… I don't know what to do anymore." Dipper says.

"What you do is you get your big butt back over here." Mabel says. Dipper chuckles lightly.

"My butt's not big." Dipper responds. Stan listens in on the conversation. Dipper's sour nature lessens the more he listens to Mabel. What's more surprising is that Mabel is still talking with her brother. The brother that had apparently abused and manipulated her. But Stan remembers when the twins would come and visit him in the summer. Dipper was always by Mabel's side. He would try and do things by himself most of the time, but he was always there when Mabel needed him the most. He listened to Mabel; he cared for her in every moment. Stan realizes that it wasn't a one-way relationship. Dipper and Mabel were together.

"So, hey… is there any word on what's going to happen when summer ends?" Dipper asks.

"No. They haven't told me anything… what's going to happen, Dip?"

"I don't… I don't know. We'll figure something out. We always do. Just… I love you Mabel. I love you so much."

"I love you, Dipper." Mabel replies tearfully from the other end. Stan walks back to the chair in the living room as he waits for Dipper to finish talking with Mabel. The conversation lasts long into the night. Stan looks at the clock. "4:00 A.M."

"_Wrong. It's got to be wrong… but what the hell do I know about right and wrong? I've done just about every illegal thing under the sun at least once. Who the hell am I to judge? But their still just kids. Do they even know what the hell they're doing?_"

Stan hears something from the kitchen.

"Wait, no, no!" Dipper mutters to himself. There's yelling at the other end of the line. Stan moves up from the chair and looks in. Dipper pulls at his hair as the line goes dead. Dipper growls in anger and throws the phone across the kitchen. The phone slams into the wall as Dipper falls back against the refrigerator. Dipper curls his knees up and buries himself in his arms. Dipper begins sobbing; everything that he had bottled up pours out. Stan walks into the kitchen and sits down near Dipper.

"I'm sorry. I really am. But it's for the best."

"No… no it isn't." Dipper mutters.

"Jesus, Dipper. I mean, I know you two were close, but this is just a phase or something. "

"Four years." Dipper says.

"What?"

"Four years. That's how long I've had these… these… feelings, for Mabel. Maybe even longer. I remember being a goofy kid and thinking she looked pretty. They were on and off for a while. But last year we both saw it. The same thing. I… I…"

Dipper loses the will to speak. He buries his head between his knees and sobs. His muscles distort in pain. Stan places his hand on Dipper's back while the teen cries. But Stan knows that Dipper can't have the life he wants.

"Dipper, you can't. You just can't."

The words seemed to have made everything worse. Dipper stops sobbing noticeably. His pained wheezing and clenched body loosens up. Dipper lets out a pained sigh as his emotions pour out. Dipper lifts his head up and turns to Stan.

"Have you ever lost everything you've ever cared about?" Dipper asks. Stan knows the answer to that, but he isn't ready to tell Dipper. Dipper continues speaking.

"You know. Back when we first came to Gravity Falls, Mabel and I made these wonderful, strange stories. Supernatural stuff. Monsters, creatures, demons. And there were other people. We based them on the people here. You want to know who one of the characters was?"

"Who?"

"Stanley."

Stan feels a pang in his heart. Long buried sadness that he had put away so he wouldn't have to feel it again.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about." Stan says as he shifts his gaze.

"Sure you do. Your name's Stanford, not Stanley. Mabel and I didn't think too much of it at first. We just figured you were too lazy to change the license plate on the car. But that wouldn't make sense. You keep getting the same one registered. We remembered what our parents said. Our grandfather, Stanley Pines. They barely mention him. What happened to him?"

"He… he died a long time ago. He set up this little shop."

"You were twins, right?"

"Yeah… why do you care?"

"If you could do anything in the world to get him back, you would, wouldn't you?"

Stan turns away from Dipper and clenches his fists. He knows he's being played. He knows Dipper wants to make him feel the pain and bring him over to Mabel's and Dipper's side. And it's working. Stan knows exactly how his great nephew and great niece feel. He knows that painful stab in the heart that turns one numb. That feeling of his soul being ripped in two. And he realizes he's doing the exact same thing to Mabel and Dipper.

"Fuck." Stan mumbles. The old man begins crying. He remembers the pain he felt when he lost Stanley; The suddenness of it. How the person who kept him out of trouble died, leaving behind two kids. How Stan had wanted to help, but felt fear and sadness. How he retreated into a life of crime to escape his old life. Stan feels Dipper move in close. Dipper hugs Stan as the old man cries to himself. Once the tears have stopped, Dipper pulls away.

"Dipper, get to bed… I'll… I'll leave the keys in the kitchen. Go and bring Mabel back here. I'll give you two a place to stay until you sort everything out." Stan says, sniffling.

"Sorry… sorry about bringing it up." Dipper says.

"Don't be… It helped me realize that you and Mabel are more important than some stupid rules. I'll… I'm going to have a drink. I'll see you tomorrow."

Dipper returns up the stairs. Tomorrow, he would leave for Piedmont. He wasn't going to allow his parents to keep the twins separated any longer.

"_I'm done waiting._" Dipper thinks.


End file.
